Tokyo 2020 Bid Backed by Public, Singing Prime Minister

Members of the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission led by Craig Reedie, second left, are welcomed by Japanese women clad in maiko, or apprentice geisha, costumes as they visit Tokyo Big Sight which would host wrestling, fencing and Taekwondo for 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on March 6, 2013. Photographer: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images

March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
burst into song this week as his three-month-old government
renewed a pitch for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games, boosted by a
leap in public support for the project.

The International Olympic Committee’s evaluation panel
inspected Japanese facilities and plans, attended a gala dinner
with Abe and received an invitation to visit Crown Prince
Naruhito. An IOC poll released this week showed support for the
bid in the city had soared to 70 percent, compared with 47
percent last May.

Tokyo is seeking to shake off losing to Rio de Janeiro in
the race for the 2016 Games, when it failed to attract broad
support from either politicians or the public. The IOC will
decide between the Japanese capital, Madrid and Istanbul in
September. Madrid had 78 percent local support, while the
Turkish city was backed by 73 percent of the population in IOC
polls last year.

“The best thing about the games here would be exactly what
happened in my own city of London, the sheer enthusiasm,” said
Craig Reedie, who heads the IOC Evaluation Commission, at a
press conference in Tokyo. “We have witnessed the strong
government support the bid enjoys.”

The commission, which wrapped up a four-day visit to Tokyo
yesterday, will also visit Madrid and Istanbul this month.
Reedie called bid organizers “highly professional” in his
final press conference.

Making sure the local population is on your side is crucial
for winning over the IOC, according to Sebastian Coe, the
chairman of the London 2012 organizing committee who was in
charge of that city’s winning bid presentation in 2005.

Abe’s Dream

“Why does a city really want to deliver a Games and what
do they want to do with it?” Coe told an audience in Madrid on
March 4. “The most critical stakeholder that any city has to
deal with is of course the people that live in that city.”

Abe told the commission in a speech at a welcome event that
hosting the Olympics was a long-held dream, at one point
breaking into a rendition of the theme song of the 1964 Tokyo
Olympics. Parliament is throwing its support behind the bid --
this week passing its second motion in favor of it.

London’s strong emphasis on leaving a lasting sporting,
economic and cultural legacy for its population has raised the
bar for future Olympic bids, Tokyo 2020 President Tsunekazu
Takeda said in an interview in London in January.

Just as the 9.3 billion-pound ($14 billion) London Games --
which regenerated a derelict part of the city -- used existing
buildings and built temporary structures to save money, the
Tokyo bid also has a strong emphasis on leaving a lasting legacy
for its population, he said.

“We’re one of the world’s most forward-thinking cities,”
Takeda said in London.

National Stadium

Tokyo plans to transform its national stadium from the 1964
Olympics into a high-tech 80,000-seat arena for 2020, using
U.K.-based architect Zaha Hadid, the architect who designed the
Aquatics Centre for London.

Tokyo’s Governor Naoki Inose emphasized safety, efficient
public transport and the financial stability of the world’s
largest city in his presentations. The venue plan centers around
the national stadium while other facilities will be revamped.

“Not all political parties were in favor of the last
bid,” Takeda told reporters in Tokyo on March 5. “This time
around, 90 percent of lawmakers have backed it from the
beginning. People are seeing the new Abe administration and
‘Abenomics’ economic policies as leading to a bright future.”

He was referring to Abe’s plans for monetary easing and
fiscal stimulus, which have sparked a jump in stock prices and
an export-boosting decline in the yen.

Economic Effects

A separate poll published by the Yomiuri newspaper on Feb.
25 found 83 percent support nationwide, compared with 72 percent
in January last year. The most popular reason cited was hopes of
an economic boost, as Japan seeks to escape a recession after
three consecutive quarters of contraction to December 2012.

The 2008 Beijing Games -- which cost $67 billion -- did not
spark much additional investment, nor did it result in a tourism
boom, according to a report published by Goldman Sachs last
year. London 2012 provided only a short-lived economic boost and
the U.K. remains mired in the longest peacetime slump since
1920.

“There’s not a single piece of evidence for economic
regeneration, a boost in tourism, or an increase in
participation in sport from any previous Games,” said Mark
Perryman, a research fellow in sport and leisure culture at the
University of Brighton in the U.K. The host city should instead
simply decide whether it wants a “fantastic party,” he said.

Upgrade Venues

Tokyo’s metropolitan government has set aside 408.8 billion
yen ($4.37 billion) for constructing and upgrading venues. The
bid committee forecasts that the costs of running the event will
exactly match revenue at 341 billion yen.

The government is emphasizing the role of the games in
marking Japan’s recovery from the earthquake and tsunami of
March 2011.

Tokyo is the favorite to win, according to U.K. bookmaker
William Hill Plc, while on GamesBids.com it scores just less
than Istanbul. The winning city is set to be announced in Buenos
Aires on Sept. 7.

Getting the message right is crucial, according to Coe.

“The fundamental question is why?” Coe said. “How are
you going to use the Games for the future? You have to be clear
what those legacy targets are.”